The bamboo door hinges emitted a dry, raspy groan as the two doors slammed shut, sealed by a wisp of Buddhist light flicked from Cang Yaochen's fingertip.
Jiang Li stood in the dim room, her back pressed against the door, her fingertips trembling slightly. No lamps were lit; only a few stray beams of the waning moon filtered through the gaps in the bamboo window, casting an eerie purple shadow over the bag of spiritual fruit Lin Yuan had delivered. She did not sit immediately, but stared fixedly at the fruit.
Inside the Pavilion of Whispers, the contents she had seen in the ancient scrolls flashed through her mind. She had so many questions—especially about the woman in those records who looked exactly like her...
At this moment, Juling Island was tightly enveloped in a translucent mist. This was the ancient barrier Lin Yuan had mentioned—the "Nine-Turn Exquisite Array." Yet now, the walls that once flowed with golden runes were inexplicably covered in fine, spider-web cracks. From deep within each crack seeped the decaying cold air of the dark rivers. As the night deepened, a muffled thudding echoed from the stone forest on the southern side of the island. It wasn't the wind; it was something colossal deep within the earth's veins, turning restlessly in its sleep.
"The array at the Sacred Altar... has cracked another three inches."
Below the altar, the Second Elder stared at the glowing, hot compass in his hand, his voice raspy. The patrolling disciples stood in perfect, mechanical unison around him, the moonlight reflecting in their eyes as a dull, lifeless gold light.
"It matters not," the Great Elder stood at the cliff's edge, his hands behind his back, his gaze dark and predatory as he looked down at the two bamboo huts with their flickering, faint lamps. "Once the 'Cleansing' begins tomorrow, we can obtain the Mirror of Truth fragments beneath the island through sacrifice. As for the rest, we can only take it one step at a time."
Jiang Li let out a long breath and slid down to sit against the wall. The bamboo wall was thin; she could clearly hear the faint sounds from next door. It was the sound of fabric rubbing against the wooden floor as Cang Yaochen sat down, followed by the rhythmic, steady clacking of his agarwood prayer beads.
Thud, thud.
Two light taps came from the wall. It was the signal from Cang Yaochen. In this deathly silent night, the sound brought a flicker of real warmth to Jiang Li.
"Li'er, are you asleep?" Cang Yaochen's voice came through the wall, raspy and laced with exhaustion.
"What is it?" Jiang Li pressed her ear against the bamboo slats, her voice kept extremely low.
A long silence followed. Jiang Li could almost imagine the monk sitting there in a rigid, upright posture, his fingers gripping the beads. "Lin Yuan... something is wrong with him." Cang Yaochen's voice was ethereal yet carried a sharp, killing intent. He did not tell Jiang Li all the cruel details he had witnessed; subconsciously, he didn't want her to bear too much.
"His memory seems to have been partially erased by the Great Elder. Now, he feels... more like a 'bait' that has been released. I cannot tell if he is friend or foe." Cang Yaochen's voice sounded heavy through the wall. "Li'er, I can faintly sense the barrier here collapsing. This island... feels more like a sacrificial altar."
Jiang Li clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms. "I found out a little as well," she hesitated. "I saw a book that seemed to contain information about the Chaos Jade, though I didn't see it clearly. It said something like: 'The Origin of the Chaos Jade lies submerged at the confluence of the island's dark rivers; it cannot be reached without the Holy Seal as a guide. The Holy Seal is a covenant of the Buddha...' The Elders seem very interested in me. They mentioned prophecy fragments, saying you are the reincarnation of a Buddha God. Monk, it feels like from the moment we stepped into this sect, we entered a meticulously designed trap."
The moment she finished, she heard the sound of someone rising abruptly next door.
"The reincarnation of a Buddha God?" There was a rare note of burning anxiety in Cang Yaochen's voice. "What else did they say?"
"I couldn't hear clearly, I was almost caught," Jiang Li lied through her teeth. "But I can feel that they don't want to kill us—at least not yet. They are waiting for a moment, or perhaps for the moment you are fully awakened."
Cang Yaochen stood still in the darkness. For the first time, a violent tremor appeared in his usually calm eyes. All the clues were tangled in his mind like a mess of thread, causing him to frown.
"Li'er, do not be afraid." Cang Yaochen pressed his palm against the wall, as if trying to touch her restless soul through the wood. "I will find a way to protect you. We still have to unravel the mystery of your birth."
"Worry about yourself," Jiang Li retorted, her voice harsh yet unable to hide a slight tremor. "If you get hurt and lose control again, I won't help you change your clothes. I'll throw you straight into the dark river and let you spend the rest of your life with that broken stone at the bottom."
Cang Yaochen did not reply. He sat back down before the shrine, his fingertips lightly brushing the new skin on his left shoulder. It didn't hurt, yet it carried a sensation that made him want to flee even as he instinctively relied on it.
In the middle of the night, a corner of the Nine-Turn Exquisite Array shattered completely under the impact of a mysterious woman, letting out a piercing, shrill explosion. Jiang Li jolted awake and sat up. Through the gap in the bamboo window, she saw a bizarre sight.
At the end of the corridor, a single white lantern floated. Beneath it stood the expressionless Lin Yuan. He was like a stone statue, standing under a night sky raining shards of the barrier, silently staring at the crack in their door.
His head turned with agonizing slowness, at an angle impossible for a human being.
Lin Yuan's figure swayed for a moment, then he turned mechanically and walked toward the mist-shrouded mountains with those terrifyingly precise steps...